This Beowulf is the real deal
- not some action-adventure adaptation (with or without CGI
monsters), but a sung performance of the epic poem itself. Benjamin
Bagby sings in the original Old English of the poem, accompanying
himself on the Anglo-Saxon harp. The result is a mesmerizing glimpse
into a long-gone world, a chance to thrill to the story of Beowulf
and Grendel in something of the same way that listeners did, more
than a thousand years ago.

Beowulf is available in
printed copies in any bookstore, but there are two things to know
about that paperback in the "classics" section. One is that
it's a translation: the original poem is in Old English, which is a
completely different language than Modern English. (Here's a hint of
how different it is: Shakespeare's language is actually considered
Modern English, albeit "Elizabethan" Modern English;
Chaucer wrote in Middle English, hundreds of years after the
Beowulf-poet. While some dialects of Middle English are
intelligible, with effort, by the modern reader without a
translation, Old English is definitely not.) The other is that
originally Beowulf was a performance, not a written poem: it
was sung to its audience by the poet, who kept it in memory. The
manuscript transcription of it dates from approximately the eleventh
century, but it was probably composed in the eighth or ninth
centuries; the poem is, in a sense, suspended between the old world
of pagan traditions and the new world of Christianity. The person who
transcribed the poem was probably Christian, as was the 11th-century
audience for the poem, but it's an interesting debate as to whether
the original composer of the poem was pagan or Christian. At any
rate, Beowulf certainly does give a wonderful insight into the
world of sixth-century Anglo-Saxon culture, as the events and
characters described in the story would have been "historical"
even to the medieval audiences.

So what's so neat about Beowulf?
It's one of the great warrior epics of the English literary culture,
giving us the great hero Beowulf and his fight against the horrific
monster Grendel. That, in itself, has inspired many and many a poem,
story, novel, and monster movie. But Beowulf is not just an
exciting story; it's also great poetry, which is why it's so hard to
get a good translation. Old English is, as I noted, a completely
different language than the Modern English that it would contribute
to, so it's very hard for translations to really capture the feel of
it.

That's where Benjamin Bagby's
performance of the poem comes in. He brings it to life - the way it
would have been brought to life in its own day. He sings the poetry
in the original Old English (yes, there are subtitles), adding the
music of the harp to accentuate the narrative. The performance is
done without "bells and whistles": it's just Bagby and his
harp, just as in the old days it would have been the bard and his
harp. This simplicity of setting means that Bagby's talent as bard is
brought to the fore: with intonation and inflection, with expression
and gesture, he brings the lines of Beowulf to life.

The effect is amazing: Bagby is
mesmerizing as a storyteller. As a scholar of English, I've read
Beowulf various times (parts of it in the original Old
English, too), but I've never really appreciated it as poetry and
song until I saw Bagby's performance. I always appreciated the
imagery and the narrative, but actually hearing it sung by a skilled
performer made me realize that hey! this sounds beautiful too!

The performance runs a bit over an
hour and a half, and covers the poem from line 1 to line 1062. This
is approximately one-third of the total length of the poem, and gives
us the first main story segment (Beowulf and Grendel). The choice to
present just the first segment is a good one, I think. This first
section is the most famous one of the poem (in fact, many people
aren't aware that there's more to Beowulf than Beowulf vs.
Grendel in the hall) and is self-contained, so it stands well by
itself. The selection means that what we get is the full experience
(no lines or sections have been omitted) but it's also a manageable
length to sit down and watch.

And yes, there are subtitles, in
modern English (optional ones) so you can follow the story as Bagby
sings it.

The DVD

Video

Beowulf
is presented in anamorphic widescreen, at its original aspect ratio
of 1.85:1. The picture is adequate but not impressive, especially
considering that it's not a very demanding image to capture. There's
heavy edge enhancement, and the picture tends to be a bit blurry at
times.

Audio

The Dolby stereo soundtrack is
satisfactory. I'd have liked to have had a richer surround
experience, but as it is, this mild-mannered stereo experience is
fine. Bagby's voice is clear and clean, and his harp music sounds
lovely.

Modern English subtitles are
provided, in a clear and easy-to-read white lettering.

Extras

First off, the scene selections menu
is nicely done, breaking the poem up into seven sections by line
numbers (very helpful if you're looking for the performance of a
particular section in the poem); if you choose to select one of the
chapters, you get a short text summary of that section as well.

Two nice special features are
included. There's a 21-minute round-table discussion with Bagby and
three other Beowulf scholars, discussing one of the most
interesting questions to do with the poem: how we relate to it
differently when reading it as compared to hearing it. There's also a
12-minute featurette in which Bagby discusses the construction of his
authentic Anglo-Saxon harp, and the reconstruction of the music. It
will be particularly interesting for musicians, but worth watching
for anyone.

Final thoughts

This performance of Beowulf
is very compelling, though it isn't for everyone; if you're looking
for a movie of it, then clearly this isn't the thing to watch. But if
you've enjoyed reading the poem, then this is a can't-miss
experience. (If you teach the poem, even more so.) Benjamin Bagby
effectively recreates the experience of listening to an Anglo-Saxon
poet reciting the great epic. It's certainly unique - but if you like
Beowulf, then it's strongly recommended.